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‘I don’t give a damn about no damn Drake night:’ Durant

Raptors lost on Drake night but social media loving what happened off the court.

Drake celebrates as the Raptors go on a run before Toronto lost to the Golden State Warriors at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star)

By Star staff

Thu., Nov. 17, 2016

The Raptors fell Wednesday to the Golden State Warriors on Drake night, the first time in four seasons they’ve lost on a night celebrating the Toronto rapper’s association with the team.

But Drake night is usually more noteworthy for what happens off the court, and it wasn’t any different this time around.

All fans at the game got a long-sleeve, black Raptors T-shirts featuring the “6 God” logo — two hands drawn clasped together in prayer with the number 6 in the top left corner. The praying-hands emblem appeared on the cover of Drake’s 2015 mixtape ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.’

But Drake, the team’s “global ambassador” since 2013 was rocking a different shirt, one with a big picture of ESPN basketball commentator Doris Burke above the words “Woman Crush Everyday.”

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Then after the game, Drake bumped into Kevin Durant while the Warriors superstar who scored 30 points was being interviewed courtside live on ESPN. Durant responded with a death stare for a couple of seconds before talking again.

Asked about playing on Drake night, Durant said: “I don’t give a damn about no damn Drake night,” before walking away.

The Raptors were 3-0 in the past three Drake Nights, including a 103-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, before falling 127-121 to Golden State on Wednesday.

Last year, fans who flocked to the Air Canada Centre on Drake Night could show off their dance moves in a special “Hotline Bling” booth.

During the first Drake night, a couple of lucky fans won a pair of Drake-designed iconic Air Jordans and immediately put them up on Kijiji for a quick, huge profit.

Drake, the team’s global ambassador since 2013, said he tries to choose the “most exciting” matchup on the schedule when picking his annual event. He then added that he picks games he thinks the Raptors can win.

“They’re a great team but they’re not invincible,” Drake said of Golden State before the game. “I want the Drake Night record to not only be all wins, I want them to be all good wins.”

Drake said that he and reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry had exchanged words leading up to tip-off.

“There was banter, I don’t know how friendly it was,” Drake joked. “Me and Steph are like family, me and K.D. (Kevin Durant) are like family, I’m great friends with Draymond (Green), same with Klay (Thompson), I’ve got a lot of friends on this team.

“These are the nights where we just agree to say whatever needs to be said and we put it all behind us afterwards. Friendly banter is a bit of a stretch but definitely a bit of banter has been going on.”

Drake typically makes no attempt to hide his friendship with the Warriors stars.

He has mentioned both Curry and Durant in songs before — Curry in his ‘0 to 100’ in 2014 and Durant in a verse Drake sang on French Montana’s ‘Pop That’ in 2012.

Durant was even seen at Drake’s annual OVO Fest in Toronto two summers ago, where the Canadian entertainer made a comment that led to a tampering fine on the Raptors by the NBA.

Drake maintained Wednesday that he never explicitly said that Durant, who was still under contract with Oklahoma City at the time, was coming to the Raptors.

“I just tried to show him how much the city would love if he came here,” Drake said. “But I think that goes for anybody that comes and plays hard for this team. . . . There’s obviously a lot of options and a lot of teams in the NBA but there’s really no place like Toronto that will give you that love where you have the opportunity to become a true beloved superstar — an icon.”

Green, who scored 11 points and added seven rebounds and five assists in the Warriors’ victory, was glad to see Toronto’s perfect Drake Night record come to an end.

He also took time to poke fun at Drake’s fashion choice.

“(Drake)’s been talking junk for a couple weeks now, talking about how they were going to beat us and that it’s Drake Night. He may be a little disappointed,” Green said. “The shirt was nice, the shirt was really nice but his boots were so bad and I was a little disappointed in his outfit overall.

“It’s Drake Night, you’ve got to bring better boots than that.”

Toronto coach Dwane Casey said Drake Night does bring a different energy to the night.

“I think it’s given our whole organization a new vibe, the city a vibe of a guy like Drake representing and being a part of the organization and having a night like that,” Casey said before the game.

“From a coaching standpoint it doesn’t change a lot. It always seems like we have a tough opponent on Drake night so it makes it a little bit harder. But it’s great for the fans, great for the city to have an evening that represents one of our icons in the city and a guy that represents Toronto.”

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